Strawberry shortcakes are layer cakes that are filled and topped with macerated strawberries and whipped cream. This recipe recreates the strawberry shortcake in the form of a strawberry cookie sandwich. The strawberries go into the cookie batter, and the whipped cream becomes a rich white chocolate ganache.

Ingredients

Servings: About 3 dozen

Cookies

2 cups strawberries, hulled and diced

1 tsp. lemon juice, freshly squeezed

1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp. granulated sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

6 tbsp. unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

2/3 cup heavy cream

Sanding sugar for sprinkling

Ganache

8 oz. (227 g) white chocolate

1/3 cup heavy cream, room temperature

3 to 4 tablespoons strawberry juice, freshly squeezed

Steps

Method1

Prepare the Ganache

If you don’t own a juicer to juice the fresh strawberries, then you can add 3 to 4 tablespoons of a purchased strawberry juice beverage. A quality bottled strawberry lemonade, for instance, would be delicious in this ganache.

1

Add the white chocolate and the heavy cream to a double boiler.

2

Stir the ingredients continuously with a whisk until the chocolate has melted. Do not allow the cream to boil.

3

Stir in 3 tablespoons of strawberry juice. Add an additional tablespoon if the ganache needs to be thinner.

4

Cover the bowl with the ganache with plastic wrap and chill it in the refrigerator for 3 hours. The ganache will set but will not be hard.

Method2

Bake the Cookies

Make sure to handle these cookies using a tablespoon or cookie scoop. The addition of heavy cream will make the dough very sticky.

1

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2

Combine the strawberries, lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a medium bowl.

3

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, kosher salt and remaining sugar in a mixing bowl until the ingredients are well combined.

4

Add the chopped butter pieces to the dry ingredients and cut them into the mixture with a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles large, coarse crumbs. Alternatively, you can mix the butter into the dry ingredients using your clean hands, but make sure you do this quickly so that the heat from your hands doesn’t melt the butter.

5

Stir in the heavy cream with a large wooden spoon, just until the dough begins to come together.

6

Fold in the strawberry mixture using a flat plastic spatula.

7

Using a cookie scoop or a tablespoon, scoop the dough onto the baking sheet, leaving about 1-1/2” (4 cm) around each cookie.

8

Sprinkle the cookies with sanding sugar.

9

Bake the cookies until they are golden brown, which will take about 24 to 25 minutes.

10

Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool on the stovetop for 2 minutes.

11

Remove the cookies from the baking sheet with a spatula and transfer them to wire racks so that they can cool thoroughly.

Method3

Assemble the Cookie Sandwiches

Beat the ganache for as long as is needed to make it light and slightly fluffy. You don’t want it to have the consistency of whipped egg whites, but the consistency will be close to that of whipped cream.

1

Take the ganache out of the fridge and whip the mixture with a handheld mixer or a stand mixer with a whisk attachment.

2

Transfer the whipped ganache into a pastry bag with a medium-size round tip. Alternatively, you can put the ganache in a resealable plastic bag and cut a small hole in one corner of the bag.

3

Place half of the cooled cookies facedown on the wire rack.

4

Squeeze the bag of ganache over each cookie half to put a generous dollop into the center of each upturned cookie.

5

Top the ganache covered cookies with the rest of the cookies, pressing the bottom of the cookie into the ganache.